St Helens: Council chiefs offer fresh help to smokers

An innovative free new smartphone app to help people quit smoking has been launched by Smokefree St Helens.

QuitPal has been designed to make it easier for people to access information, advice and support wherever they are, 24 hours a day.

Free to download, QuitPal features a motivating four-week quit programme with practical daily support and advice and real time information about nicotine replacement products, the amount of money being saved and positive changes in the user’s health.

A women in Durham has been fined nearly £2000 for supplying an ice cream van she owned with illegal cigarettes and tobacco.

The women denied that she was doing so. However Trading Standard officers were sold counterfeit packets of cigarettes from her ice-cream van. 4,200 Gold Classic cigarettes with a street value of £735 and 20kg of Turner’s hand-rolling tobacco valued at about £3,200 were also found in her home.

US: Truth initiative takes a look at tobacco use in video games

Tobacco use is prevalent – and glamorised – in video games played by young people and could lead to a rise in teenage smoking rates, according to the Truth Initiative.

In their report, Truth conducted video interviews with 44 teenage and young adult gamers. All 44 reported seeing smoking in video games on a ‘regular basis.’

Robin Koval, CEO and president of Truth Initiative, said: ‘The glamorization of smoking in video games is a cause for serious concern, particularly because youth spend more time playing video games than going to the movies.

‘Tobacco products are often used by “cool” and “strong” characters, by characters controlled by the players themselves.

‘We hope this report will lead to better awareness of how tobacco images might be influencing kids to smoke.’

According to a poll conducted by SERMO, a social network for physicians, 90 percent of 2,506 doctors think that there should be restrictions on advertising for e-cigarettes similar to restrictions on traditional cigarettes.

The poll was launched on January 7th in reaction to a new Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found e-cigarette ads are reaching 7 in 10 teens.

US: New Mexico considers new tax on tobacco

New Mexico lawmakers will consider implementing a new tax on e-cigarettes, and increasing the current levies on conventional cigarettes and chewing tobacco under proposed legislation unveiled on Wednesday.

Several states are examining new tax structures to account for the growing popularity of e-cigarettes and alternative tobacco products.

The proposal would impose a 66 percent tax on nicotine e-cigarettes at the initial point of sale. Taxes on conventional cigarettes would increase by $1 to $2.66 per pack, and taxes on other tobacco products would rise from 25 percent to 66 percent.

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